Football Head Coach

Football Head Coach

The head coach in football is the person in charge of a football team. Head coaches are responsible for drafting, choosing the players that dress for game day, and picking play calls. The head coach will trust his coordinators to run day to day operations for the offense, defense, and special teams.

Responsibilities

As a head coach, the main responsibility is leading the team weak in and weak out, and that starts with delegation. With a football team being so big, it is not possible for the head coach to do everything at once, and that is where the coordinators come in. The offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, and special teams coordinator are all responsible for their respective areas. This allows the head coach to prepare the overall game plan. Head coaches also end up making the big time decisions. At the end of the day, head coaches either get credit if something goes right, or end up receiving the criticism if something goes wrong.

College Coaches

Head football coaches in college differ from their professional counterparts. In college, athletes are brought to a school through recruiting. This means college head coaches tend to get more creative through social media or through any of their media appearances. They want to make themselves and the institution they represent come across as appealing to potential players.

Professional Coaches

Head football coaches in leagues like the NFL don't have to worry about recruiting players to play for them like their college counterparts. Although some head coaches are involved in player personnel decisions with the general manager, most have little say in the players they get. This allows for them to spend most of their time on preparing for the season and for the games every week.

Salary

The salary of a head football coach is the highest of any coach on the team, due to them being the main focal point of each team. In the NFL, the highest paid coach is currently receiving $12 million a year, while the lowest paid coach is still in the $5 million range. College football head coach salaries see much more variance compared to the NFL head coaches. Currently the highest paid college head coach receives close to an $8.5 million annual salary, while the lowest is all the way down at around $400,000.